


Subjective

by AlleycatAngst



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Setting Unrealistic Expectations, Stickman, Wedding Rings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-10-01 20:30:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20396395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlleycatAngst/pseuds/AlleycatAngst
Summary: North helps Markus choose a wedding ring for Simon.





	Subjective

There are a million rings. More. A billion, and he could have any one of them. Most of his inheritance from Carl was sunk into Jericho, but he’d kept enough for this. He stared into the case, trying to imagine any one of the bands on Simon’s finger.

But he just… can’t even get that far in his head. He can barely see _himself_ holding the anonymous black box that would hold any one of them.

“You know he’s not going to care which you choose, right?” North said, her back against the case, looking out at the rest of the shop clearly without a single ounce of interest in any one of the glittering treasures.

He shook his head slightly, _already_ regretting her presence.

“Isn’t it all so antiquated anyway?” she asked. “Should we still have to mark our significant others like they’re our territory?”

Markus sighed, hunching his shoulders. “North, I know you’re trying to help, but you’re not _actually_ helping.”

She shot him a tight grin. “I’m just saying, you can relax,” she said. “You know, if it doesn’t matter so much, you don’t have to be so fucking freaked out about the whole thing.”

“Language,” he said quickly, drawing an eyeroll from her. “And it does matter. Of course it matters. The more it matters, the more it means, and I want it to be… everything.”

“I’ve never seen you this indecisive before,” she said. “It took you six seconds to choose the symbol of our revolution, and _nobody _like the stickman.”

Markus groaned, covering his face as he agreed, “Everyone hates the stickman.”

She turned, leaning down to fold a bracing arm around his shoulders. “Yeah, but that’s what makes him _special_.”

With her face next to him, looking down at all the rings, she pointed to plain silver band directly below them. “He’d probably like that,” she said. “Seems like something he’d wear.”

Markus nodded, he had thought the same thing, but, “Doesn’t that seem… simple? Safe? It just… I want him to know that he’s more than a safe bet. I want him to have something special.”

Her finger moved to the side, to an elaborate golden wedding ring studded with diamonds and sapphires, the metal whorled with Celtic knots and stylized roses.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said bluntly.

She leaned back, throwing up her hands. “Well, then I don’t know! Why did you even bring me?”

He straightened as well, shrugging uncomfortably.

Catching onto his hesitation, she drew closer, lowering her voice. “What? What is it?”

He cast his gaze to the floor. “I… I still kind of like the stickman,” he said quietly.

She frowned, clearly not understanding and he sighed. “I don’t know. I’ve been looking for months, but this is really important. Art is important. It can’t all be subjective, I learned that from Carl.”

He gestured to the rows upon rows of rings. “Simon has to look at it every day. I want it to be perfect. I want it to mean so much more than just… a question, or an expectation. And the last time I tried… we ended up with… with _stickman. _And everyone hates stickman. Even Simon.”

“Hey,” North is at his side again immediately. “Markus…”

“I though having you with me would make the decision easier, but… it’s _worse_.” Markus gazed around at the shop, his eyes flickering through the catalogue “None of this is going to work, is it? And if I can’t do this for him, do I even deserve to—”

“Markus,” North snapped finally, gripping onto his arm. “Calm down. It is _just_ a _ring_. And Simon will know what it means no matter _what_ it looks like.”

“Excuse me?” a new voice asked. It belonged to the shop assistant they had dismissed upon entering, a red-headed human with a wide, infectious smile.

North was immediately hostile, firmly ready to defend his abrupt outburst. “What?” she asked.

He tipped his head. “I’m sorry, I just… I couldn’t help but overhear— I think you might be interested in some of our new pieces—we can’t display them openly for another month or so, until the patents clear.”

The android stared at him, and he took their silence as interest. He beckoned them to follow him toward the back of the shop where he rounded the counter. “It would be… such an honor,” he said as he stooped below their eyeline to fumble with a safe. “These designs were done in-house, by a very talented android. I know he would be _thrilled_ to hear you had come in.”

Carefully, with reverence, the android stands, balancing a velvet tray in his hands. He set it onto the glass and carefully drew away the grey silk cover, revealing a small treasure trove.

“_Fuck_,” North whispered. And for once he doesn’t protest the language. Fuck is right.

They are all beautiful, mostly in the same way that the rest of the rings in the store are beautiful. They fade into the background around the One.

It’s white. Slightly angular in its construction with small gaps chiseled into the edges to mimic an android’s casing. Inset into the white metal, he can see the thin tube running the circumference of the ring, empty and dark now, but ready to glow a delicate blue with just a few drops of thirium. It’d be brighter than any jewel.

It’s so beautiful it hurts. Masculine and delicate. Elegant and functional.

It’s them.

And he can’t wait to share it with Simon.

###

**Author's Note:**

> Just a bit of fluff!


End file.
